Tuesday, October 11, 2016

CD Review: Gong Return And "Rejoice" While Steve Hillage Boxes Up His Entire Musical Career

The psychedelic space-rock band Gong have been on and off since the
mid-seventies. They recently released their 28th album on September 16th
titled "Rejoice! I'm Dead!" It is Gong's first album without lead
singer, songwriter, guitarist Daevid Allen, who passed away in March
2015, but the spirit of Allen is heard in every song on the album. The
new nine-song release begins with the classic seventies rock style of
"The Thing That Should Be," before experimenting with the ten-minute
space rock jam "Rejoice!" The band's intensity is felt in the
quick-hitting psych-rock of "Kapital," but their true sound emerges from
the floating soundscape of "Model Village." Gong's new hour-long
release finishes with the twelve-minute prog-rock adventure "The
Unspeakable Stand Revealed" and a flashback to their early syth-rock
sound with "Insert Yr Own Prophecy." To find out more about Gong and
their latest release "Rejoice! I'm Dead!," please visit planetgong.co.uk.

British guitarist Steve Hillage has been a pillar in the English
progressive rock scene since the early seventies, as a solo artist and also
as a member of the bands Gong, Khan and System 7. He has worked
alongside other musical greats likw Mike Oldfield, Nick Mason and Dave
Stewart. On October 22nd, Hillage is releasing a career retrospective
box set that contains 22 CDs covering his entire musical career. The new
set titled "Searching For The Spark" includes all eight of Hillage's
solo albums, but the real treasure is the eight discs worth of
unreleased material from Hillage's archive. This set will feature, for
the first time, live recordings from 1977, two from 1979 and one from
2006. Then, there are another 4 discs worth of unreleased demos and
outtakes from his solo albums. Also included are 40 minutes of
previously unavailable recordings from Khan's 1972 line-up. The new box
set is rounded out with a 188-page hardcover book filled with rare
photos, newspaper clippings and commentary on the recordings from
Hillage himself. To find out more about this newly released box set from
Steve Hillage, please visit burningshed.com.